University Unions

Feeling Flula

What happens when comedy comes face to face with electronic dance music, broken English, memes, and a fanny pack? It seems that the only possible outcome is that Flula Borg is doing a show. On Friday, October 21st , JMU students got a glimpse into what happens when all of these things collide. University Program Board hosted comedian Flula Borg in Wilson Auditorium, where he performed an hour-long set followed by an exclusive meet and greet.

Flula Borg, who started out as a German DJ, is an actor, musician, and is currently performing comedy all around the world. He is also apart of a new wave of comedians who perform comedy online. Borg has close to 800,000 subscribers and over 86 million views on YouTube. Likewise, Borg has recently gained recognition for his role in Pitch Perfect 2, which was the reason many students came out to see him on Friday night.

Senior finance major Maura Thompson invited her long-time friend Taylor, who traveled all the way from upstate New York to see the show. They both explained that his role in Pitch Perfect 2 was what got them hooked on Borg’s comedy.

Thompson commented, “He was so hilarious in Pitch Perfect, so I looked him up on YouTube, then Vine, and now I’m here watching him live. I’m really glad I came because it was the funniest show I’ve seen in a long time. ”

It was apparent that Thompson wasn’t the only one who knew Borg from his movie role and YouTube presence. Before the show started, members of the audience could be heard sharing their thoughts on Borg before he took the stage. Some whispered comments like, “I showed my roommate his interview with Michael Phelps, and he couldn’t stop laughing,” while others added, “I wonder if he is going to talk about Pitch Perfect 2.”

However, Borg didn’t talk about anything concerning his appearance in Pitch Perfect 2, nor did he talk about anything close to that. Borg simply shared his life story and his confusion with American culture. Sounds simple enough, but no one tells a story like Flula Borg. Borg interspersed his stories with sporadic dancing, unrelated memes and images, and quick flashes of electronic dance music.

Borg pranced around stage in his short shorts, bright red and blue shoes, and his trademark fanny pack. He told stories about his childhood, his college roommates, and his first trip to California. He displayed his talents as a D.J. and presented his experiences through music. The humor behind his songs came from his blatant syntactical errors and incoherent mumblings. Some of Borgs mispronouncing’s include words like “thankings givings,” and “I ams lovings all of you Americannons.” Borg explained that he blamed his difficulty with English on the “Mary-Webiester” dictionary.

In addition to his comedic play on words, Borg performed “heartfelt” songs such as Sweet Potato Casserole, Cracker Rack Squash It. And no audience member in Wilson Auditorium will ever forget Borg’s tribute to his favorite German NBA player, Dirk Nowitzki.

Borgs comedy was different and unconventional, but somehow he made all of it work. Just like his favorite German giant Dirk Nowitzki, Flula Borg’s performance was certainly larger than life.